Push And Then Shove

In the past few weeks, Telangana’s lawyers and advocates have staged several protests, with slogans like “Andhra judges go back”, “We want our courts” rending the air. Chief minister KCR’s daughter and MP K. Kavitha says, “It is unfortunate that we have to agitate for a separate HC even after the formation of Telangana.” The alliance between the TDP-BJP is the main cause for problems in the state. “PM Narendra Modi must decide whether he wants a TDP-BJP alliance or a people’s alliance,” she declares at a round-table.

Meanwhile, an agrarian crisis looms. A National Crime Records Bureau report puts the number of farmers who committed suicide in Telangana in the last one year at 898. Agriculture minister P. Srinivas Reddy, tho­ugh, says the state figure is below 100.

The XIVth Finance Commission has said that Gujarat and Telangana are the two revenue surplus states in India. Commenting on this, KCR had said in the assembly, “Our stand has been vindicated. Telangana’s funds were being looted for the Andhra region.” 

Meanwhile, Naidu’s incessant demands to the Centre for a special status to Andhra Pradesh have not yielded fruit so far. On the plus side, the Singapore government has submitted a masterplan for a seed capital area of Andhra Pradesh to Naidu. Located in the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri region, the capital area will be called Amaravati. Singapore and Japan are major investors in the capital dev­elopment plan. Amaravati is being envisaged as a smart, green and sustainable city.